


White Lotus Bending Academy (and all of what happens there)

by loogandthemaidenofwind



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends to Lovers, School, Some Fluff, Thanks, i wrote this in like one day, iroh and azula are mentioned, its a bending academy, jeong jeong pakku and ozai make brief appearances, so pls dont judge, yeet, zuko has some Sad Feelings, zutara at school because yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29626860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loogandthemaidenofwind/pseuds/loogandthemaidenofwind
Summary: Zuko sits alone at lunch, under his favorite oak tree. But when a waterbender girl decides to sit next to him, his life begins to change.(yeah, i dont know how to summary. i also wrote this while listening to "love at first sight" and "le velo pour deux" by the brobecks, so theres that)
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	White Lotus Bending Academy (and all of what happens there)

**Author's Note:**

> mild descriptions of abuse here, so be warned. hope you enjoy <3

Zuko doesn’t really know why he spends his lunch breaks at the academy.

It’s not like in primary school, where they teach so many subjects that the students have to stay until 3 to learn them all. At the White Lotus Bending Academy, the only thing taught is, well, bending. Students attend from 7 till 12, and then go back home. Of course, there are extracurriculars and after-school clubs, but Zuko isn’t in any of them.

He lies to his father and sister about why he stays, saying that the training grounds are better, saying that his teachers are close by to help him with his forms. His father’s eyes narrow and Zuko knows he doesn’t believe him, but he says nothing. He probably wants Zuko gone longer anyway. Azula likes to taunt him about it from time to time. _But that_ , he thinks bitterly, _is because she’s Azula._

Of course, she doesn’t attend this academy. She’s at a bending academy for firebenders only. White Lotus is for all benders: water, earth, fire, air. His father’s eyebrows nearly shot off his skull when Zuko told him he wanted to go to White Lotus, but his Uncle Iroh had put in a good word, and now Zuko’s here instead.

He sits alone under a large oak tree, chewing morosely on the same cucumber and cream cheese sandwich. There are a few other kids that hang around here for their after-school activities, but he doesn’t know any of them, and it’s not worth the effort to try and make friends. He knows that people are a little scared of him.

He wonders distantly what he might do today. Go to the training grounds to practice? Sneak into the library and find a nice book? He’s not really sure. There’s a new kind of buzz in the air, like little hints on the wind, whispering that change is coming.

And come it did.

“Hey, mind if I sit?”

Startled, Zuko looks up. There’s a girl standing there, holding a tray of the cafeteria’s lumpy macaroni. She has waist-length brown hair and is clad in a blue uniform. _Probably a waterbender_ , he thinks. But he shakes his head no, and she sits cross-legged near him, her tray balanced on her lap.

“My name’s Katara.”

Zuko nods at her. “I’m Zuko.”

They don’t exchange another word, not even when she leaves.

\---

When he gets to his tree the next day, she’s already there, this time with a thermos of soup. “Hey there.”

“What are you doing here?” he asks, plopping himself down in his usual spot near the roots. He doesn’t want to sound rude, though, he’s just curious and a little doubtful that she’s here of her own accord.

She shrugs. “I don’t know anyone else here, and you seem like a loner. We can be loners together.”

Zuko frowns. “But if we’re sitting _together,_ how are we loners?”

“If we don’t talk, but we still sit together, we’re loners together,” she explains, taking a sip of soup.

He nods in understanding. She nods back. They get started eating their lunches, and they still don’t speak to each other. She finishes and gets up without a word, and he watches her leave.

Words or no words, she’s intrigued him. The easy way she sits down next to him, her confident way of explaining things, the fact that she can stomach the school’s awful lunch food… it’s all very interesting to him. He’s not sure why.

He glances at the spot where she was and resolves that tomorrow, he’ll try to make more conversation.

\---

The next day, he greets her first as she sits down. “Hello, Katara.”

She casts him a curious look. “Hey, Zuko.”

Zuko clears his throat awkwardly. It’s been a while since he’d tried to get to know someone, and clearly, he’d forgotten how. “Um, how was your day?”

“Pretty good,” she says. “You?”

“Fine.” He’s not sure how to elaborate. Every day is the same for him- wake up, sit through his classes, eat lunch, loiter at school, and go home. “I, uh, learned some new firebending forms today.”

“Oh, cool.” At least she now seems more invested in their conversation, taking her eyes off her sad-looking salad to look at him instead. “I learned a bit more about healing. Of course, I learn way more from M.A.B.S.”

“What’s M.A.B.S?” Zuko asks. He assumes it’s some kind of club, but from the way Katara’s eyes light up, it must mean a lot to her.

Katara begins to excitedly explain. “It stands for ‘Mastering All Bending Styles’. Some of the teachers help run it. It’s about incorporating different bending styles into your own bending and being more versatile.”

“Wow.” This girl really is intriguing. “Sounds cool.”

“You should join!” she tells him, and then reaches for her backpack to fumble with the zipper. “Here, hold on.” She retrieves a piece of paper and hands it to him with a grin. “Here’s the permission slip. Don’t know why they need one, but whatever. Anyway, you can keep it if you ever wanna join.”

Zuko nods silently, his eyes fixated on the line that says: _parent/legal guardian, please sign here_. A million different problems are already forming in his head, but he doesn’t talk about any of them, instead tucking the form safely into his bag with a smile.

They make pleasant conversation, and only when she leaves does he allow himself to worry.

\---

Zuko sits on the edge of his bed, holding a pen in his trembling hand. The permission slip is on his lap. It feels like it's burning a hole right into his leg.

He knows he can’t show this to his father. That vile man would never approve. To him, all other benders are scum, and he’s warned his children that there will be severe consequences if they even interact with any of them.

 _And I know his definition of “severe consequences”_ , Zuko thinks bitterly to himself. His fingers drift unconsciously to the burn scar covering a third of his face.

And he’s risking another one of those punishments just by interacting with Katara. He knows this, has known this since she sat down by him on that very first day. He knows this, and yet he still talks to her, still wants to get to know her.

Why is he still doing this?

A cold kind of determination suddenly seizes him, and he clicks the pen and flattens the permission slip on his headboard. In a cruel scrawl, he writes- _Ozai Hinata._

He takes a deep breath and folds up the paper neatly, the weight of what he’s done not quite hitting him as he carefully tucks it into his school bag. He’ll worry about complications tomorrow, but tonight, he’ll sleep.

\---

Zuko is unbelievably nervous on his first day of M.A.B.S, but Katara reassures him that it’s all fine as she takes him inside the building. He’s surprised to see a sizable amount of people there, milling around the room as they wait for something.

Katara drags him over to an old man. “Jeong Jeong, Zuko would like to join M.A.B.S.”

Jeong Jeong smiles kindly at Zuko. “Does he have his permission form?”

“Right here, sir.” Zuko fumbles with the little piece of paper, his heart hammering as he hands it to Jeong Jeong. He’s worried that the man might realize that it’s fake, but he barely even glances at it as he tosses it onto a pile of papers.

“Welcome, Zuko. Since you’re a firebender, you’ll be checking in with me. Think of me like a homeroom teacher.” Jeong Jeong explains. “But today firebenders and waterbenders are with Pakku. Katara here can show you where that is.”

Zuko mutters a quick thank-you and lets Katara lead him to another classroom off this one. They sit down next to each other with the other students and look to the front, where the man Zuko assumes to be Pakku is standing.

Pakku is a stern-looking old man, but still radiates a twinkle of youth as he gazes around the classroom. “Settle down, everyone.”

As the room quiets, Pakku continues. “Today will be a day for all you firebenders to learn techniques of waterbending. Normally I would teach them myself, but now that we have an even number of waterbenders and firebenders-” he flashes Zuko a smile “-I’ve decided that you young waterbenders will teach the firebenders yourselves. Partner up, and begin.”

Katara turns to him immediately, giving him a lopsided grin. “Partners?”

“You know it.” The rest of the class is filing out to the training grounds, and Zuko and Katara join them.

The training grounds are a wide-open space covered in sawdust. All the pairs fan out so that they have room to practice and not accidentally burn something. Zuko and Katara find an empty spot near the edge of the training ground and

“So, where do you wanna start?”

“Maybe a demonstration?” Zuko suggests. “Or just… tell me about waterbending?”

“I can do both.” Katara bends water out of a little pouch on her belt and lets it hover in the air, keeping it controlled as she begins to speak. “Waterbending is all about pushing and pulling, about feeling and controlling the flow of energy.” She makes the water swirl in the air as Zuko watches, entranced. “Waterbending movements are fluid and graceful. Instead of taking a rigid stance, we flow through the moves.”

She makes the water loop around his head before bending it safely back into the pouch.

“Wow. That was amazing.” Zuko breathes. It’s silly now that he realizes, but he’s never seen a proper demonstration of waterbending before. The way Katara’s movements shifted so easily was… beautiful.

“Thanks!” Katara smiles confidently at him. “Ready to try?”

It takes work for him to let himself melt a little, to stop using the normally rigid movements of firebending and instead letting himself flow through the moves. But the effort is all worth it, and when he successfully manages to perform a waterbending move with fire, the smile on Katara’s face is more valuable than any new skill he just learned.

Zuko finds that he doesn’t want to leave her so soon, and he walks her home, and talks and laughs and smiles with her the whole way back. They discuss their teachers and swap childhood stories, and Zuko begins to find out more about her. How she has an annoying older brother that she would still trade the world for. How she always eats her grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup because “it’s the proper way to eat it, Zuko!”. How she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her future, but she knows that she wants to help people as much as she can.

When they finally part ways, she waves goodbye with a smile that could melt the sun.

\---

The past few weeks had been the best of Zuko’s life.

His mornings were the same as ever. Wake up, sit through classes, pray for lunch to come sooner. But now he had someone else to sit with under his tree, and he had M.A.B.S to look forward to everyday. Katara was right- he learned way more than he ever did in classes.

But the thing that really brightened it up with Katara. He’d gotten to know her way better now, and they were no longer “loners together". No, now they could be considered real friends. 

It’s nice to have a friend, but he knows his feelings run deeper than that. He isn’t a fool. He knows that, despite it all, he falls in love far too easily.

But he doesn’t want to focus on that right now. He’s walking home with Katara now, and she’s laughing at a stupid joke he just told. Her hair blows inelegantly behind her in the wind and her laugh isn’t pretty at all- it’s rather like a goose honk, if he’s being honest. But it’s still the best sight in the entire world.

He laughs with her too, and he’s never felt more content. At the moment, it feels like nothing else in the world is really there; it’s just him and Katara and all the feelings in between.

But of course, reality will often send cruel reminders.

“Zuko, there you are.”

Zuko feels his joy drop to the pit of his stomach like lead.

A car has pulled up next to them, and his _father_ is in that car, wearing his disgustingly fancy suits and a disapproving frown.

All Zuko can feel is pure panic. He looks hastily between his father and Katara, who has a bemused expression as she stares at the man in the car. “Who’s this, Zuko?”

Zuko’s throat is drier than a desert, and he swallows hard. “My father.”

Katara’s expression barely changes- it’s still bemused and now a little surprised. “Oh, um… nice to meet you, sir.”

“So you’re Zuko’s… friend.” Ozai reaches a hand out for a handshake, and as much as Zuko wants to slap it away from Katara, he’s forced to stay paralyzed to the ground and she cautiously shakes it. “Well, get in the car, Zuko. We’re going home.”

“Yes, father.” Zuko glances back at Katara, who now looks hurt. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he mumbles, and opens the car door. He slides into the shotgun seat and barely manages to close the door before his father drives off.

For all his grievances, he’s a meticulous driver, never making a mistake while on the road.

They drive in silence for a while before Ozai speaks up. His voice is as cold and harsh as a winter storm. “What were you doing with that waterbender?”

“Just… talking about homework, Father.”

“That’s not what it looked like at all.” Zuko is silent at this accusation, but it’s all the proof Ozai needs.

“What have I told you about the people of the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Air Temples?” Ozai’s voice is slow, cruel, mocking. He accents every syllable with harsh sounds that make Zuko’s fear even more intense.

“They are not to be associated with.” The response is slow, mechanical. A repeat of all he’s ever heard from the man.

“And yet you defied it anyway.” Ozai takes his eyes off the road to give Zuko a piercing, horrible glare. “You know the penalty for this.”

Zuko closes his eyes, feeling a tear slip down his face, but he doesn’t dare say anything else. He wishes more than ever that he could somehow fade away, collapse in on himself, be anywhere away from this.

But the world wasn’t so merciful to its subjects.

\---

Katara gasps at the row of burn scars up Zuko’s arm the next day. “Zuko, what happened?” she asks worriedly, already bending some water into her hand. “Here, let me-” she begins, the water glowing blue with healing magic, but Zuko grabs her wrist to stop her.

“Don’t.”

“Why on earth not?” When Zuko doesn’t answer, she sighs in frustration, letting the water pour out of her hand. “Zuko, I wanna help you! So tell me what’s going on.”

“Please, Katara,” he says, and he hates how his voice quivers and cracks. “Just leave it alone.”

“Well… I… okay,” she whispers. And maybe it’s something in the air, or maybe it’s their instincts, but all of a sudden they both lean in at the same time. They hesitate for a fraction of a second, nose-to-nose, before Katara puts her hands around his neck and pulls him in.

He’s not sure what he expects from their first kiss. Fireworks? Magic? For them to press together, pull apart, and giggle at each other like some ridiculous romance movie that Ty Lee puts on?

But there’s none of that. As he’s kissing her, all he can think of is how guilty he feels.

He’s pulled back in an instant, standing up, stumbling backwards. Katara’s on her feet too, her blue eyes flashing with hurt. “Zuko, I’m so sorry, I thought-”

“No! Katara, it’s not that.” Katara steps closer to him and he steps back. He can’t let her near him. “It’s my father. You saw how he treated you yesterday. I can’t hurt you like that.”

“What? Zuko, I can deal with your father-”

“You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“I can handle myself!” Katara shouts. Her eyes are glistening with angry tears. “I’m not stupid, or weak. I can fight him!”

“No!” he screams. His throat is so hoarse, he realizes, and he’s sure the whole school can hear him, but he has to make her realize just who she’s up against. “You don’t understand what he’s done! He did this-” he gestures wildly at his arm- “and he did this!” His hands point at the burn scar on his eye. Katara is frozen now with tears streaming down her face, and he lowers his voice. “I will not expose you to that, Katara.”

“ _Please,_ Zuko!” she cries, but he’s already slung his bag over his shoulder.

“Please tell Jeong Jeong that I won’t be at M.A.B.S,” he says curtly. He turns away from her, ignoring the tears in his own eyes, and begins to walk away.

She doesn’t try to follow him. She doesn’t call out his name. When he sneaks a glance backwards, she’s crumpled to her knees with her head in her hands.

One part of him sees this, and it screams for him to go back. It demands to be felt, pulsing through his blood, _orders_ him to go back and comfort her. It asks him how he can just let her cry there, how he can know that she feels broken and alone and rejected, and still walk away and do nothing.

But the rational part of him knows better, and the rational part of him quietly reminds him that he has to walk away.

And walk away he does.

\---

Zuko doesn’t know why he’s at his old bending academy after so many years.

Though so much has changed, the bending academy is exactly the same. The buildings are the same, and the oak tree is the same, and even the energy in the air is the same. It’s nice to be somewhere familiar- somewhere where so many happy memories took place.

He sighs and flops down under his old oak tree.

After that awful day with Katara, he’d gone home miserably, and he’d asked his father to transfer him to the academy Azula attended- the all-firebender academy. His father had agreed, a cold, cruel smirk playing across his face. Zuko had hated giving him what he wanted, but he had no choice. He had to do it, for Katara.

He made no friends at this new academy. Azula didn’t want anything to do with him, as expected. He performed well in his classes and ate his lunches alone on the edge of the school. He would chew on that same cucumber and cream cheese sandwich and stare at the sky and wonder how things had gone so wrong.

By the time graduation had rolled around, he’d made a decision. He was going to cut ties with his father once and for all. He lived with his uncle for a long time while all the legal paperwork went through, avoiding the wrath of the horrible man who’d scarred and abused him for so long. But finally, after a few agonizing months, Uncle Iroh became his legal guardian and Ozai Hinata was officially out of his life.

From there, he had to figure out exactly what he wanted to do. He tried doing many things- swordfighting, music, even acting- but nothing seemed to stick. Right now, he’s working at his uncle’s tea shop, but he doubts that will stick either.

He looks fondly at the oak tree, running a hand over the rough bark. The tree is taller, branches sturdier, but it’s still the same old tree. “You’ve seen me through some good times, huh?” he whispers, though he knows that it’s stupid. The tree can’t understand him. “You brought me some good luck. You brought me… her.” He smiles bitterly. “Think you can do it again?”

The tree doesn’t respond. Of course it doesn’t. It’s a tree. The best he gets is a rustling sound as the wind combs through the branches.

But that tree had brought him good fortune, good luck, and it was about to do it again.

“Zuko? Is that you?”

Zuko whips around in shock, hardly daring to believe it. But the truth is right there. It really is Katara standing there- older, taller, wearing robes similar to Pakku’s back in the day- but it’s definitely the same Katara he knew all those years ago.

“Katara,” he breathes. A grin breaks across his face as he takes her in fully. “Katara, it’s really you!”

He’s ecstatic to see her, but she’s frowning at him, as if not knowing what to make of him. _She must still be angry about the day I left,_ Zuko reasons. He cursed himself in his head. Stupid him and his stupid teenage decisions. 

“Ah, would you mind if we talk?” he asks. Maybe it will ruin things forever, but he has to try to get her back into his life. He’s missed her so much.

“Well… okay,” she concedes, and they walk together away from the grounds.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“I teach here now,” she tells him. “Took over from Pakku.”

“That’s so cool,” he marvels. He’s never seen Katara as a teacher before, but the role fits her perfectly.

“What are _you_ doing here?”

“Felt nostalgic, I guess.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Look, Katara, I’m sorry I left you. I wanted to keep you safe, but… I definitely could’ve handled that better.”

“You could’ve.” Zuko’s heart sinks, but then Katara’s gives him a hesitant smile, and it jumps to his throat almost instantly. “But I understand.”

“Thank you, for your understanding.” Zuko breathes a sigh of relief. “That was… uh, easier than I thought.”

Katara laughs, and Zuko’s heart flutters with that old, familiar feeling. “It’s nice to see you again, Zuko. I missed your stupid company.”

“Likewise.” They share a smile before he plows on. “I hope this isn’t too forward, but maybe we can meet up sometime? Get to know each other again?”

He’s surely rambling at this point, clinging onto hopes, but the way Katara is smiling makes him think that maybe those hopes aren’t as far-fetched as he believes.

“I’d be open to that,” Katara agrees, and suddenly every bad thing in Zuko’s life seems to vanish, even for just that moment. That same happy feeling from his youth is the only thing that exists. “I hope you still have my number saved?”

“Yeah, I do,” he says excitedly. “Sorry I never called.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you when I’m free.”

She doesn’t hug him, or kiss him (like he almost wanted her to). She hovers there awkwardly for a second before waving goodbye. He watches her leave, like he did all those years ago, when they were kids. He can’t help but smile, too, laying himself down on the ground and looking up at the tree branches, feeling just like a teenager in love.

It’s a nice feeling.

Maybe now he knows why he spent his time at the academy, and why he’s here now. Maybe it’s because, no matter how, this place always leads back to her.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are very appreciated, thanks for reading <3


End file.
